Trigger and safety assembly for firearms

ABSTRACT

A trigger assembly and an anticreep safety mechanism therefor particularly for use in rifles and shotguns having a cartridge striker of the Mauser bolt action type. The trigger and safety assembly comprises a combination of elements which includes a trigger having a bifurcated trigger extension one leg of which releasably engages the sear of the striker and the other leg of which has a yoke that engages a rotatable safety element. When the rotatable safety element is rotated to the &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;safe&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; position the trigger and the bifurcated extension thereof are immovably positioned with respect to the sear, and rotation and withdrawal of the bolt is prevented.

United States Patent [72] Inventors William B. Ruger [56] References Cited Southpofl, P UNITED STATES PATENTS I N 352 Beachicalfi- 1,930,864 /1933 Schmeisser 42/70(.5) [21] P 2,387,669 10/1945 Loomis 42/70 .5 [22] Filed July 22, 1969 Patented y 1971 2,514,981 7/1950 Walker et a1. 42/70 [73] Assignee Sturm, Ruger & Co., In 24,559 3/1962 Weatherby 42/70(.5)

Southport, Conn. Primary Examiner-Benjamin A. Borchelt Assistant Examiner-C. T. Jordan Attorney-Pennie, Edmonds, Morton, Taylor and Adams ABSTRACT: A trigger assembly and an anticreep safety mechanism therefor particularly for use in rifles and shotguns [54] SAFETY ASSEMBLY FOR having a cartridge striker of the Mauser bolt action type. The 9 Claims 4Dmwing Figs. trigger and safety assembly comprises a combination of ele ments which 1ncludes a trigger having a bifurcated trigger ex- [52] U.S.Cl 42/70E, tension one leg of which releasably engages the sear of the 42/69A striker and the other leg of which has a yoke that engages a [51 Int. Cl F4lc 17/02, rotatable safety element. When the rotatable safety element is F410 19/00 rotated to the safe position the trigger and the bifurcated Field of Search 42/70.5 extension thereof are immovably positioned with respect to 69 148 the sear, and rotation and withdrawal of the bolt is prevented.

2 3 1 1 %mt\\ K a i I7 42 4' 44 26 l 25 i 20' 3| as Eff-g I i. 1

PATENTED m 4191: 3577.668

sum 1 BF 3 FIG. 1

INVENTORS WILLIAM B. RUGER Y LEROYISULLIV N Q; 2

TORNEYS minnow 4|s1| 3,577,668

SHEET 2 [1F 3 l4 6 INVENTORS WILLIAM B. ER LEROY 3'. SU VAN BY flM, ,a /w paw ATTORNEYS PATENTED MAY 4197: 3577.668

sum 3 BF 3 INVENTORS WILLIAM B. RUGER LEROY I SULLIVAN ATTORNEYS 1 TRIGGER AND SAFETY ASSEMBLY FOR FIREARMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION i in the safe" position a slight but nonetheless significant degree of clearance must be provided between the trigger and the blocking element of the safety to permit the blocking ele- 'ment to be moved freely from the *fire" to the safe position. The existence of thisrclearance pennits the trigger to move or creep" slightly when the mechanism is in the safe" position, thereby reducing slightly the designed overlap between the trigger and the sear. The slight movement or creep of the'trigger when in the safe" position alters the designed sear release characteristics of the trigger when the rifle is fired, and in extreme cases may result in premature discharge of the rifle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a trigger assembly and anticreep mechanism for the in-line or reciprocating striker in the breech bolt of a firearm of the Mauser type. The trigger and safety assembly comprises a trigger having an upwardly extending bifurcated part the two legs of which bifurcated extension are adjustably spaced apartby means of an adjusting screw. One leg of the trigger extension engages the sear while the other leg has a yoke that engages a rotatable safety member. The rotatable safety member is rotatably mounted on a depending part of the receiver of the rifle, the center portion of said safety member having a slotted cylindrical surface that, in the safe" position, is very closely engaged by the two fingers of the trigger extension yoke. When the safety member thumb piece causes the safety member to rotate from the fire position to the safe" position. Abolt-blocking member is secured to the other end of the rotatable safety member which, in' the safe position, enters a slot in the bolt thereby preventingit from being turned to its unlocked position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view, with parts in section, of the receiver portion of a bolt action rifle illustrating an embodiment of the invention with the safety mechanism in the safe position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the opposite side of the rifle of FIG. 1 with the safety mechanism in the safe" position;

FIG. 3 is a view of the outside of the upper portion of the rifle shown in FIG. 1 with the stock and bolt handle in section and with the safety mechanism in the safe position; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the trigger and safety assembly with the safety mechanism in the fire" position.

' comprises a receiver 1 having a reciprocating breech bolt-assembly 2. The bolt asembly 2 includes the bolt 3 having a bolthead sleeve 4 threaded therein, the sleeve 4 having a central bore 5 in which the striker 6 is mounted. The striker 6 has a forward head (not shown) on which the compression spring threaded sleeve 4. The striker 6 has an end cap 8 secured thereto by a cross pin 9. The cap 8 travels in the enlarged portion 10 of the bore 5 and has a depending portion 11 with an inclined sear engaging surface 12. a

As shown best in FIGS. 1 and 2, the receiver 1 and the trigger guard 13 are mounted on the stock 14, the trigger guard being secured to the receiver by bolts 15 and 16. As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 4, the receiver 1 is provided with an integral depending element 17 and with a rearward tang 18. A trigger mounting bracket 20 is rigidly secured to the depending element 17 by means of an integrally formed cylindrical plug 21 that is received in the cylindrical hole 22 formed in the element 17. The plug 21 is held in place in the hole 22 by a hollow expansible pin 23 that passes completely through mating holes fonned in the plug 21 and the depending element 17 with a snug driven fit. As shown best in FIGS. 1 and 4, the trigger mounting bracket 20 is provided with a longitudinally disposed hole 25 located below the plug 21 into which hole is threaded the trigger backlash adjustment screw 26.

The trigger 27 is pivotally mounted between the downwardly extending arms of the bracket 20 by means of the pin 29. The trigger is provided with a bifurcated upper extension comprising the sear release rear leg 30 and the safety yoke front leg 31. A sear release adjustment screw 32 extends through a hole formed in the rear leg 30 and engages the threads of'a mating hole formed in the front leg 31. The rear leg 30 is stiff but is nonetheless sufficiently flexible to be movable with respect to the front leg 31 under the force exerted by the adjustment screw 32. A lock screw 33 prevents movement of the adjustment screw 32 when the sear release overlap has been properly set as hereinafter described. The front leg 31 of the trigger extension is provided with a yoke portion having a rear finger 34 and a front finger 35 which closely contact the cylindrical surface of the rotatable safety element 36 of the safety mechanism when the latter is in the safe" position as shown in FIG. 1. The trigger 27 is also provided with a trigger spring 37 one end of which bears against the saddle 38 mounted on the bracket 20 and the other end of which bears against the plug end of the trigger pull adjusting screw 39 threaded into the trigger as shown in FIG. 1. The adjusting screw 39 can be set to effect the desired trigger pull pressure in the manner known in the art.

The striker release sear 40 is pivotally mounted by means of pin 41 in a centrally positioned longitudinal slot formed in the dependent element 17 of the receiver. Sear spring 42 urges the forward end of the sear upwardly into engagement with the surface 12 of the depending portion 11 of the end cap 8. When the firing mechanism is cocked and ready to fire, the forward end of the sear 40 is held in engagement with the surface 12 by means of the rear leg 30-of the trigger 27, the upper end of the rear leg 30 slightly overlapping the under surface of the sear 40 as shown in FIG. 1. To adjust the amount of overlap between the sear 40 and the leg 30, the firing mechanism is cocked and the safety mechanism is placed in the safe position as shown in FIG. 1. The adjusting screw 32 is then tightened to move the rear leg 30 forward until the upper end of the leg 30 just clears the sear 40, thereby releasing the sear 40 and allowing the firing mechanism to fire. The firing mechanism is again cocked and is held in this position while the adjusting screw 32 is backed off to allow the springlike rear leg 30 to move backwardly until the desired overlap engagement of the rear leg with the forward end of the sear 40 is obtained. The head of the adjusting screw 32 is provided with a notched surface 44 which engages a protrusion formed on the rearward leg 30. The desired degree of overlap between the rear leg 30 and the sear 40 can readily be established by counting the number of notches or clicks that the screw 32 is backed off, each "click" equaling a known amount of movement or rearward travel of the rear leg 30. When the desired amount of sear release overlap has been established the lock screw 33 is tightened to prevent further movement of the adjustment screw 32. The trigger backlash adjustment screw 26 7 bears, the opposite end of the spring 7 bearing on the is then set so that, at the precise position at which the sear is The safety mechanism includes the rotatable safety member 36 which extends between the fingers 3d and 35 of the trigger yoke of the front leg 31, the bolt locking plate 45 secured to the right-hand end of the safety member 36, the over center bell crank 46 secured to the left-hand end of the safety member 36, thebell crank spring 47, the longitudinally slidable thumb piece 48, and the connecting rod 49 that connects the thumb piece 48 to the bell crank 46. The generally cylindrical safety member 36 is rotatably mounted in holes formed in the depending element 17 of the receiver, the right-hand end of the safety element being formed with parallel slots 50 adapted to receive the narrow end of the keyhole opening 51 formed in the bolt locking plate 45 as shown in FIG. 3. The left-hand end of the safety element 36 is fonned with a squared end 52 adapted to receive the over center bell crank 46, the bell crank being swaged thereon as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The center of the generally cylindrical safety element 36 is formed with a trigger yoke finger recess 53 adapted to receive the finger 34 when the safety member is in the fire position as shown in FIG. 4.

Longitudinal movement of the thumb piece 48 to the rear of the slot 54% rotates the bell crank 46 about a quarter of a turn counterclockwise (as viewed in FIG. 2), thereby placing the safety mechanism in its safe" position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. Movement of the thumb piece to the frontof the slot 54 rotates the bell crank 46 about a quarter of a turn clockwise (again as viewed in FIG. 2), thereby placing the safety mechanism in its fire position as shown in FIG. 4. The movement of the bell crank 46 is opposed, and is heldover center in either the safe" position or the fire" position, by the bell crank spring 47 one end 55 of which enters the hollow pin 23 and the other end 56 of which enters a hole 57 formed in the bell crank.

When the safety mechanism is in its safe position the bell crank 46 is in its counterclockwise position as shown in FIG. 2, the bolt blocking plate 45 is in its upright position as shown in FIG. 3, and the rotatable safety member 36 is in its trigger locking position as shown in FIG. 1. When the plate 45 is in its upright position as shown in FIG. 3, the upper end of the plate enters a longitudinal slot 58 formed in the under side of the bolt 3 thereby preventing rotation of the bolt. When the safety member 36 is in its trigger locking position as shown in FIG. 1, the fingers 34 and 35 of the trigger yoke closely contact the cylindrical surface of the member 36 thereby preventing any movement of the trigger 27 and, consequently, preventing release of the sear 40. Because the safety member is closely contacted by the opposing yoke fingers, and because the clearance between the fingers 34 and 35 and the member 36 is minimal (advantageously, a rotational sliding fit between ground surfaces), the trigger 27 is firmly fixed or locked in one position and any tendency of the trigger to creep is eliminated when the safety mechanism is in the safe position. Moreover, the essentially zero clearance between the yoke fingers and the safety member ensures that the yoke, and hence the trigger itself, will always be in a precisely determined and reproducible position (when in the safe position), thereby providing a fixed reference point with respect to which all trigger adjustments (for example, the sear overlap adjustment) can always reproducibly be made.

When the safety mechanism is in its fire" position as shown in FIG.4 the bell crank 46 is rotated to its clockwise position, the bolt blocking plate 45 is rotated to its lowered or horizontal position, and the safety member 36 is rotated to place the recess 53 in position to receive the rear finger 34 of the yoke of the trigger 27. When the plate 45 is in its lowered position it is withdrawn from engagement with the slot 58 and no longer prevents rotation of the bolt 3. When the recess 53 of the safety member 36 is in position to receive the rear finger 34 the rear finger 341 is free to move forward into the recess 53 when the trigger 27 is pulled.

To fire the rifle, the finger portion of the trigger is pressed rearwardly againstthe pressure of trigger spring 37, thereby causing the bifurcated upper extension of the trigger to move forward until the lock screw 33 comes up against the backlash screw 26. At this point the rear leg 30 releases the sear 40, the pressure of the striker spring 7 and the inclined surface 112 pushes the sear out of its striker holding position, and the striker springs forward to ignite the cartridge. The firing mechanism is recocked by operating the bolt handle (not shown) of the Mauser-type action in the manner known in the art. Just prior to the return of the bolt and bolt handle to its closed and locked position, rotation of the bolt 3 cams the striker and striker spring into compression. At the'same time, the sear 40 is urged by sear spring 42 into engagement with the inclined surface 12 of the depending portion 11 of the end cap 8, and the sear release leg 30 of the trigger 27 is urged by trigger spring 37 into the predetermined degree of overlap with respect to the under surface of the sear 40, thereby placing the firing mechanism in condition for firing. Movement of the safety mechanism to the safe position now places the various parts of the trigger assembly and safety mechanism in the relative positions shown in FIG. 1.

We claim:

1. In a firearm having a receiver, a bolt mounted in the receiver, a spring loaded striker in the bolt, a sear forcontrolling the striker, a trigger assembly releasably engaging the sear and a safety mechanism for the trigger, the improvement which comprises:

a spring loaded pivotally mounted trigger having an upwardly extending bifurcated part, said bifurcated part having a'sear release leg and a safety yoke leg which are adjustably spaced apart by means of an adjusting screw, said sear release leg releasably engaging the sear and said safety yoke leg being provided with a yoke portion having a rear finger and a front finger,

rotatable safety member rotatably mounted on the reciever and extending between the rear and front fingers of the yoke portion of said leg, said safety member having a generally cylindrical surface that is closely contacted by the rear and front fingers of said yoke portion when the safety member is rotated to the safe position of said member, said generally cylindrical surface being formed with a recess adapted to receive the rear finger of said yoke portion when the safety member is rotated to the fire position of said member, and

means for rotating said rotatable safety member from the safe" position to the fire position of said member.

2. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the sear release leg is positioned with respect 'to the safety yoke leg by means of the adjusting screw so that said sear release leg engages the undersurface of the sear when the safety member is in the safe" position and so that the sear release leg releases the sear when the rear finger of the yoke portion of the safety yoke leg is recieved in the recess formed in said safety member.

3. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the clearance between the rear and front fingers of the yoke portion and the cylindrical surface of the safety member is minimal.

4. The firearm according to claim 3 in which said clearance is that which is provided by a rotational sliding fit between ground surfaces.

5. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the rear leg of the bifurcated part of the trigger is the sear release leg.

6. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the means for rotating the safety member comprises an over center bell crank secured to one end of said safety member, a thumb piece slidably mounted on the receiver, a connecting rod operatively connecting one arm of the bell crank to the thumb piece, and a spring connected to the other arm of the bell crank for yieldably holding the over center bell crank in either the safe" position or the "fire position.

7. The firearm according to claim 1 in which a bolt blocking member is secured to one end of the rotatable safety member,

mime 0715 said bolt blocking member being received in a recess formed in the bolt of the .firearr'n when the safety member is rotated to the safe position and. being withdrawn from said recess 'operatively connecting one arm of the bell crank to the thumb piece, and a spring connected to the other arm of the bell crank for yieldably holding the over center bell crank in either the safe" position or the ire" position and in which a bolt blocking member is secured to the other end of the rotatable safety member, said bolt blocking member being received in a recess formed in the bolt of the firearm when the safety member is rotated to the safe" position and being withdrawn from said recess when said safety member is rotated to the fire position of said safety member.

' 9. The firearm according to claim 8 in which the thumb piece is slidably mounted in a longitudinal slot formed in a rear tang of the receiver. 

1. In a firearm having a receiver, a bolt mounted in the receiver, a spring loaded striker in the bolt, a sear for controlling the striker, a trigger assembly releasably engaging the sear and a safety mechanism for the trigger, the improvement which comprises: a spring loaded pivotally mounted trigger having an upwardly extending bifurcated part, said bifurcated part having a sear release leg and a safety yoke leg which are adjustably spaced apart by means of an adjusting screw, said sear release leg releasably engaging the sear and said safety yoke leg being provided with a yOke portion having a rear finger and a front finger, a rotatable safety member rotatably mounted on the reciever and extending between the rear and front fingers of the yoke portion of said leg, said safety member having a generally cylindrical surface that is closely contacted by the rear and front fingers of said yoke portion when the safety member is rotated to the ''''safe'''' position of said member, said generally cylindrical surface being formed with a recess adapted to receive the rear finger of said yoke portion when the safety member is rotated to the ''''fire'''' position of said member, and means for rotating said rotatable safety member from the ''''safe'''' position to the ''''fire'''' position of said member.
 2. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the sear release leg is positioned with respect to the safety yoke leg by means of the adjusting screw so that said sear release leg engages the undersurface of the sear when the safety member is in the ''''safe'''' position and so that the sear release leg releases the sear when the rear finger of the yoke portion of the safety yoke leg is recieved in the recess formed in said safety member.
 3. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the clearance between the rear and front fingers of the yoke portion and the cylindrical surface of the safety member is minimal.
 4. The firearm according to claim 3 in which said clearance is that which is provided by a rotational sliding fit between ground surfaces.
 5. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the rear leg of the bifurcated part of the trigger is the sear release leg.
 6. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the means for rotating the safety member comprises an over center bell crank secured to one end of said safety member, a thumb piece slidably mounted on the receiver, a connecting rod operatively connecting one arm of the bell crank to the thumb piece, and a spring connected to the other arm of the bell crank for yieldably holding the over center bell crank in either the ''''safe'''' position or the ''''fire'''' position.
 7. The firearm according to claim 1 in which a bolt blocking member is secured to one end of the rotatable safety member, said bolt blocking member being received in a recess formed in the bolt of the firearm when the safety member is rotated to the ''''safe'''' position and being withdrawn from said recess when said safety member is rotated to the ''''fire'''' position of said safety member.
 8. The firearm according to claim 1 in which the means for rotating the safety member comprises an over center bell crank secured to one end of said safety member, a thumb piece slidably mounted on the receiver, a connecting rod operatively connecting one arm of the bell crank to the thumb piece, and a spring connected to the other arm of the bell crank for yieldably holding the over center bell crank in either the ''''safe'''' position or the ''''fire'''' position and in which a bolt blocking member is secured to the other end of the rotatable safety member, said bolt blocking member being received in a recess formed in the bolt of the firearm when the safety member is rotated to the ''''safe'''' position and being withdrawn from said recess when said safety member is rotated to the ''''fire'''' position of said safety member.
 9. The firearm according to claim 8 in which the thumb piece is slidably mounted in a longitudinal slot formed in a rear tang of the receiver. 